Great device!
For the last few weeks I have been searching for as many reviews as I could on the Sanyo HD 1010 to help me make a decision on which camcorder to purchase. Because I could only base my decision on the 4 reviews that I read here (which did help immensely) I thought I'd share my opinion of this camcorder to help other potential consumers make up their mind.
I should tell you that I am a professional wedding photographer (still images 14 years) so that you have a reference point of who's telling you what. I received the Sanyo HD 1010 3 days ago and had the entire weekend to play around with it.
The quick answer: For my purposes I love this camcorder. However this camcorder is not for everyone-you should determine what you plan on using the camera for before deciding to purchase (see below two paragraphs down).
My wife and I love to travel. I was looking for a camcorder that tooks great video was portable and took decent still images. The 1010 does just that. I've looked at the Canon HF 100 and the Samsung HMX20C and they are also small but the 1010 just feels smaller to me and more portable. I own a Sony PC9 which was a great camcorder in its day but it has stayed at home the last five years. (I like to have a camera that I can put on my belt clip or is light enough to dangle from my neck.) The video's that I've used have come from point and shoot cameras that took decent video clips. The image quality (from the point and shoot cameras) is certainly not as good as mini DV which the PC9 is but it was always there for the taking. I only recently became interested in shooting better quality video as the size of these new camcorders have come down recently. Understand that I am not replacing my still camera (the Canon G7 is my travel camera) and don't recommend anyone to replace their still camera with this all in one camcorder. However the 1010 does take nice stills (a little oversaturated but quite acceptable). You obviously can only use one camera at a time so when you are using the 1010 and want to snap a quick photo while you're shooting video or you stop shooting video it's nice to know you can get a decent photo with this camcorder.
The reason this camcorder is not for everyone is the poor image stabilization. If the 1010 had optical image stabilization it would be hands down perfect! Does this ruin it for me? NO. Most people have a tendency to overuse the zoom lens and pan too quickly. Most of my videos are taken at wide or mid range (travel scenic footage and family gatherings). When I do pan I hold the camcorder as steady as possible and SLOWLY pan almost exaggerated. I do this whether or not the camcorder has image stabilization. You shouldn't rely on the image stabilization as a crutch. If you use good techniques for average subjects your videos will be fine. I shot 12 minutes of a family birthday party using the techniques I described and my videos were fine no "motion sickness videos". However if plan on buying the 1010 to videotape your young children or children's sports I don't recommend this camera. That's where a good optical image stabilizer will shine.
Ok my observations:
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As I said I love this product. It produces beautiful videos better than any camcorder I've ever owned. I tried all the different quality settings and decided to stick with the 1080i 60fps as my permanent setting. On this setting I didn't see any artifacts or lagging when panning with image stabilization (IS) off. I really need to do some more comparisons with IS on but this is my initial impression. I looked at my brother in law's HI Def Sony with him. He's a computer/techie expert and we looked together and both agreed on the same things. The 60fps settings on both the 1080i and 720i were better than the 1080p 30fps and 720p 30fps settings. I know everyone makes a big deal about the 1080p setting but 60fps LOOKS better. It's smoother. The 1080i and 720i at 60fps are very close in quality on the High Def set but on my 36 inch Sony the 720i when panned had some artifacts (don't know why; didn't happen on the Hi-def set. I'm sure you techies know). But the reason I'm going to leave it on the highest quality is two reasons: 1.) You should always record at the best setting. You can always down convert but you can't upconvert. 2. ) With the software(Nero 8) that comes packaged with the product I am able to burn a standard DVD taken from 1080i 60fps footage. As others have said I cannot view the footage at normal speed (views jerky) on my PC(windows XP laptop dual core) but I can still burn it un-edited to a DVD which plays beautifully. I don't have time anyway to edit videos on a PC. What I CAN do is splice the mpeg 4 clips together in the camera (very easy to do!) and/or edit them in camera and then burn to the DVD. It's not Hi-def quality but it's DVD quality and still better than any other home video that I have ever produced. I plan on getting a separate USB drive to keep my "albums" in Hi-def and play them back on Hi-def TV and use the DVD's as a lower quality (but still good) back up and/or to share with family/friends. FYI the 12 minutes of footage took roughly 50 minutes to burn. Not bad! I haven't researched recording on to a Blu-Ray in Hi-def but even if it's not till next year the hi-def footage will be there when I'm ready to.
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I love the size. Not really pocketable as some people claim (a jacket yes pants no) but small enough to put on your hip or dangle from your neck (I use a Canon neckstrap made for their Elph camera's).
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You can "pull" high quality jpegs from your video footage. I was really amazed at how good the images are when you do this! Very clean and smooth.
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The holster case from Sanyo is so-so. It's ok for a house party or short term use but the clip is not tight on the belt and there is nothing to prevent the camera from falling out if you snag the case on something or have excessive movement. I bought a UV filter to protect the lens and the lens cap does not fit very snug on the filter. The filter falls off EVERY time I put the camera in the holster. I will look around for an aftermarket case to use instead. I would not use the holster outside of the house.
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The controls/menus etc are GREAT. I have never had a camera that navigates so easily and quickly when looking to change settings. This is a big plus and not to be overlooked.
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I use a Transcend 8gb class 6 card and it works fine. Did not seem to take a long time to write the file to the card but my longest clip was only 3 minutes. Maybe if I shot longer footage a faster card would make a difference.
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Low light footage is FINE. People have complained about the grain in the low light footage. I don't have an issue with this. In very very low light you are going to get grain. Of course! Here's my experience. I took my family footage at night at a well lit house (lighting from the ceiling high-caps) and there was no grain. When we went to the dining room for the birthday cake singing the lights went off and a single candle lit the room. I had the camera ISO set to AUTO which appears to me to set the lowest ISO that will take an acceptable video. That's the way it should be. Anyway when the lights went off the video went black for a split second until the ISO adjusted to the candle and the video had some grain but was fine. It's not a professional camera. This low light problem that reviewers are complaining about is a non-issue. When the lights went back on everything shifted back to normal.
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I had no problem with focus hunting. There was very little of it and it was not noticeable. There was one time when the camcorder shifted completely out of focus but only for a split second. It seemed no different from any other camcorder that I've owned.
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I'm thinking of getting the wide angle converter (for the travel usage) but don't really have an issue with the widest angle of view. Yes I would have loved a 28mm equivalent but the 38mm is fine.
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Battery life seems fine not an issue. Again haven't used it too much but I did get two equivalent batteries on Amazon for twenty bucks.
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I find the pistol grip to be quite comfortable and easier to hold than the more common "palmcorders". Also I use two hands to hold the camera and keep it steady. I keep my left hand on the LCD screen. This helps steady the camera and keep down the jerkiness when zooming in tight and also panning.
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The flash is pretty good. I was very surprised. However I found that when I used the flash it seem to oversaturate the image vs. when I turned the flash off and used natural light.
Conclusion: Great camcorder great video results. Don't let the image stabilization issue stop you from buying this product unless your primary purpose is taking video of your young children and sports action.
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